SA rabbi unfairly maligned by ‘blacklist’

NICOLA MILTZ

However, before the ink was totally dry on the blacklist, an official apology from the office of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel was on its way to the Beth Din, according to Rabbi Fishman and Rabbi Gidon Fox, chairman of the South African Rabbinical Association.

This so-called blacklist has caused major distress for some leading rabbis around the world. Last weekend, however, reports of this list – containing some 160 rabbis whose efforts to confirm the Jewish identities of immigrants – were rejected by Israel’s Haredi Orthodox-dominated Chief Rabbinate.

In order to get married in Israel, immigrants must provide the rabbinate with proof of their Jewish identity, which is often done in the form of a letter from a rabbi in their home community.

Rabbis from 24 countries, including the United States and Canada, are on the list. In addition to Reform and Conservative rabbis, the list includes several Orthodox leaders.

When Rabbi Fishman heard that his name was on the so-called “blacklist”, he described it as “an unfortunate incident” which was “troubling”.

According to reports this week, this damning list from the Rabbinate, landed in the hands of Itim, The Jewish Advocacy Centre, a non-profit that guides Israelis through the country’s religious bureaucracy.

In 2015, Itim filed a freedom-of-information request in a Jerusalem municipal court demanding a list of approved foreign rabbis, and received this list as part of that case.

Rabbi Fox, who is also the rabbi of the Pretoria Hebrew Congregation, said: “The list itself is somewhat of a mystery. The answer as to how Rabbi Fishman’s name appeared, has still not been clarified. I wrote and called Rabbi Moshe Kurtstag of the Beth Din, expressing my dismay.

“Rabbi Fishman is well known within our community. He is a G-d-fearing man, a scholar of note and his presence on that list was totally unbecoming. The appearance of anybody’s name surely should have been preceded by rudimentary homework of contacting the Chief Rabbi or my organisation to inquire about the calibre of the person who was going to feature on the list. This was not done.”

At the time of going to press, Rabbi Fox and Rabbi Fishman had not yet read the letter of apology which had been sent to the Beth Din.

“I have not read it yet, but should the wording not be sufficient to absolutely and unequivocally exonerate the character of Rabbi Fishman, we will not settle for anything that is ambiguous in any shape or form,” said Rabbi Fox.

 Rabbi Fishman had written letters for two people emigrating to Israel. He said: “I wrote those letters more than a year ago. These people have encountered no problems in making aliyah. Their immigration has been smooth sailing; in fact there will be a marriage next week under the auspices of the Rabbinate.

“I’m pleased that the misunderstanding is in the process of being clarified and put into perspective and that an apology has been issued,” Rabbi Fishman said.

Rabbi Fox was not as accepting. “I am dumbfounded that his name should appear on such a list,” he said. “It is tremendously disappointing that an office with the stature of the Chief Rabbi of Israel, with or without the consent of the Chief Rabbi, could somehow disseminate a list that so impugns the integrity of any individual, in this case a rabbi is extremely distressing.

“The list came out on the cusp of the Three Weeks when we should be emphasising love for Israel and our fellow man, rather than experiencing character assassinations.”  

Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein said: “This is a clear mistake. Rabbi Fishman is known to me and all of his colleagues as a man of complete integrity, honesty and decency who would never do anything to justify his inclusion on such a list.”

In an attempt to put out this international fire, the Israeli Chief Rabbinate explained the bureaucratic bungling by claiming the list of foreign rabbis had been “misconstrued”. It claimed that the list did not imply that those rabbis cannot be trusted to vouch for the Jewish identities of their followers.

The director-general of the rabbinate, Moshe Dagan, said in a letter to the Orthodox Rabbinical Council of America that the proof-of-Judaism letters were rejected for a range of reasons, and that the list questioned the documentation, not the individual rabbis. Dagan added that these rejections were sometimes temporary.

The list that was publicised, is not a “list of unrecognised/unauthorised rabbis”, Dagan wrote, rather it is a list of rabbis whose letters regarding marriage were not recognised by the personal status and conversion division of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel “for whatever reason”.

Even though the list contained only the names of rabbis, Dagan wrote in bold type that “it is the documents that were presented which are unrecognised, not the rabbis.”

He added: “I am pained by the anguish caused to the respected rabbis who appear on the list, and will do everything I can to minimise the damage as much as possible and to take care that errors of this kind will not be repeated.”

Itim director, Rabbi Seth Farber, who received the list in an e-mail correspondence with the Chief Rabbinate, queried why the list was of rabbis’ names, not problems with documentation.

The list comprises rabbis whose letters the rabbinate rejected during 2016. Of 66 US rabbis included on the list, at least one-fifth are Orthodox, while almost all of the rest are Reform or Conservative. – (Additional reporting by JTA)